Journey to the West –
videos
There are two stories being told in the text: Monkey and Journey.
The first part focuses on the creation and development of Monkey
(Su Wu Kong) and is an exploration of what it means to be human from
Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist philosophies. The second part of
the story continues this exploration of the main currents of Chinese
thought throught the journey of the monk Xuanzhang as he travels
through China and different lands
and cultures on his way to India. The book only covers part of
the
journey, that to India and not his 17 years in the country or his
return.
Monkey's adventures raise many ethical questions about the
relationship
of power to accomplishment and the relationship of people to each
other.
These stories are highly popular and we will view animated and
live
action sections from programs on television today for children
and
adults. At the end of the term we will look at an American version of
the story and you will be able to compare the two. If there is
time we will view a new program which
expands
the episodes beyond those in the original novel to create new
adventures
for the four travelers.
Below is a list of the videos to be shown in class and the pages they
refer to in the Kherdian text. Some of the episodes are omitted
from the text to streamline it for Western readers. In that case I have
provided a translation
that you can download so you will be able to
understand the story as the video is in Chinese. It is imperative
that you read
these before you come to class so you can ask questions and will
understand the lecture.
1 Intro: Monkey – Episode 1
Monkey learns to be human and studies with a Taoist (pages 1
to
32 in text).
2 Journey – Episode
10 Travelers meet the White
Bone demon (see translation).
3 Journey –
Episode
8 Journey Animation
Ginsengfruit video (see translation).
4 Journey
Episode 14 Fire Boy (see translation).
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